How To Buy Bitcoin Cash (BCH) – Is This The Best Bitcoin Fork?

Bitcoin, the king of cryptocurrency, has become so popular that various coins have created a fork of their coding to create their own coin. 

Fast forward to 2017 where we welcomed the arrival of perhaps the best bitcoin fork there is – Bitcoin Cash. 

With one of the most vibrant and active communities and a strong set of public blockchain developers, it’s no wonder you’re looking up how to buy Bitcoin Cash (BCH). 

This guide will help all levels of crypto-preneurs understand the importance of Bitcoin Cash, its utility, and how to buy BCH safely and securely.

So, let’s get right to it as Bitcoin Cash has some brilliant features that make it a tad more powerful than Bitcoin itself. 

Why Should You Buy Bitcoin Cash (BCH)? 

You’ve probably already thought about the question “what is a bitcoin fork?” Well, Bitcoin Cash has forked off of Bitcoin’s (BTC) blockchain, this essentially means that it belongs to the same family of Bitcoin but has some changes to its functionality. 

If you’re not familiar with the reasons to be buying Bitcoin (BTC), then I’ll list them out below as they’re pretty similar to Bitcoin Cash (BCH). 

• Bitcoin Cash is decentralised and is not owned or backed by a singular entity like a bank of a government. 
• It is validated through the blockchain which makes everything a trustless, permissionless process. Processed, validated and logged on a blockchain
• It was once thought of as anonymous but it is possible to now track transactions 
• The supply is finite, which means that no more coins can be made, making it less likely to be affected by inflation. Remember that the US has printed an additional $6 trillion in just 2 years. 

The reason for Bitcoin Cash (BCH) being created was due to the problems Bitcoin has with scaling. Without getting too technical, Bitcoin Cash’s variation of the Bitcoin fork means that it’s able to transfer, store, reduce costs and speed up processing times. 

Hopefully, all this information above has helped you understand the use of Bitcoin Cash compared to Bitcoin. Let’s get started on how to buy Bitcoin Cash (BCH). 

How To Buy Bitcoin Cash (BCH)? The 3 Step Method With Breakdown 

Okay, so you’re ready to begin your crypto journey with your first purchase of Bitcoin Cash. But you’re sitting here wondering how to purchase it. 

There are 2 major factors to consider: 

1. How do you purchase Bitcoin Cash (BCH) safely and securely?  
2. What are you going to do with it once you have bought it? 

And that’s why I’m here writing this guide, to help you get hold of your soon to be favourite crypto and to show you how to store it safely for the future. You wouldn’t just leave your cash lying around in someone else’s house so this is important. 

Step 1: Get A Wallet That Supports Bitcoin Cash (BCH) 

When you’re purchasing crypto, whether it’s your first time or your millionth, you’ll want to ask yourself: 

“What do you plan to do with your crypto tokens once you’ve purchased them?” 

If I’m invested in crypto for the long-term and there’s no way to utilize the crypto to earn more (such as staking) then I always deposit it into my Ledger Nano S hardware wallet. 

Hardware wallets, or ‘cold wallets’, are the safest and most secure way of securing your crypto as you own the private keys to your wallet, not an online exchange. 

And the very fact that it is not constantly connected to the internet means that it is much less likely to be hacked.

I’ll skip to the punch line and as Bitcoin Cash (BCH) is a fork of Bitcoin this means that it runs through a proof-of-work mechanism. This means there is no way to stake your Bitcoin Cash, instead miners secure the network. 

For this reason, I’ve only offered one web/mobile wallet and two solid options for hardware wallets. 

Here are 3 popular options for storing your Bitcoin Cash:  

Wallet Name	Type of Wallet	URL
Ledger	Hardware Wallet	https://www.ledger.com/
Trezor	Hardware Wallet	https://trezor.io/
Trust Wallet	Web Wallet	https://trustwallet.com/

Tip: Every wallet comes with a private phrase (mnemonic phrase). This is incredibly important as it’s your ultimate backup to access your wallet. Do NOT give this out to any person or site that asks for it. 

Step 2: Head To These Crypto Exchanges to Buy Bitcoin Cash (BCH)

Hopefully, you’ve purchased your crypto wallet or at least set up your web wallet, and now you’re ready to buy Bitcoin Cash. 

As Bitcoin Cash was hard forked in 2017 it means that it is available to purchase directly through your credit/debit card from a variety of popular crypto exchanges. 

Being able to buy Bitcoin Cash through your credit and debit cards is insanely useful. It means that you don’t have to deposit money, buy another cryptocurrency and then trade that for Bitcoin Cash. All that hassle saved! 

So, which cryptocurrency exchanges would I recommend?

• Binance
• FTX
• Kraken

Note: Most of these crypto currency exchanges will expect you to have government identification handy to authenticate your account. 

The Start To Finish Guide on How To Buy Bitcoin Cash Through Your Credit/Debit Card

You’ll want to gather up these items before you start: 

• Your notes app on your computer or laptop 
• A physical notebook and pen 
• An internet connection 
• Government-approved identification

Once you’ve got everything, let’s start: 

• Step 1: Head to Binance and click the ‘Register Now’ button on the home screen.  
• Step 2: How to verify your Binance Account? Once logged in, click the Profile icon in the top-right next to the ‘Bell’ icon. Then, click ‘Identity Verification’.
• Step 3: Binance offers 3 types of identity verification and I would just go ahead and commit to the advanced verification (this pretty much removes all limits) 
• Step 4: Once you are verified you’ll want to log in and head to the main menu where it says Buy Crypto. 
• Step 5: Hover over the menu button and click ‘Credit/Debit Card’ 
• Step 6: Change the token from Bitcoin (BTC) to Bitcoin Cash 
• Step 7: Change the fiat currency to the one you choose and input the amount you want to buy 
• Step 8: Click confirm purchase and click confirm again! 

Step 3: Withdraw your Bitcoin Cash (BCH) to Your Crypto Wallet

As I’ve already mentioned, I would not want to store my Bitcoin Cash in a hot wallet or a crypto exchange. At the end of the day, you’re just more likely for it to be hacked as it’s less secure. 

At the very least you have your web wallet, so head over to that new web wallet or hardware wallet and grab your bitcoin cash wallet address. 

Once you’ve found your wallet address you’ll want to copy the exact address and head over back to your exchange. 

All you have to do now is press ‘Withdraw’ and then paste your address in to withdraw all the Bitcoin Cash to your own wallet.

Tip: Make sure to double-check the bitcoin cash address you’re using to transfer. There are legacy addresses that start with a 1 and a 3 that you have to be careful transferring to. 

What To Do Next Now You Have Bitcoin Cash

Well done on making your first crypto purchase! Bitcoin Cash certainly isn’t going anywhere and storing it safely is a job well done. 

What’s the next step? You should take a look at our guides on BNB, Chainlink and Monero as they’re some amazing cryptocurrencies that I’d recommend to have in any portfolio. 

Remember that Bitcoin Cash is extremely volatile so you want to have some risk management when it comes to holding crypto and diversify as much as possible. 

Frequently Asked Questions when buying Bitcoin Cash

What is the difference between Bitcoin and Bitcoin cash?

Bitcoin Cash (BCH) was well ahead of Bitcoin when it was first hard forked. It had a higher transaction speed and expedited the confirmation of a transaction. This resulted in lower transaction fees than the king – Bitcoin. 

However, in recent years, Bitcoin itself has upgraded its systems using its core developers. This has resulted in Bitcoin now taking the dominance back. 

What is Bitcoin cash used for?

Bitcoin Cash, much like Bitcoin, was not created to be a store of value and rather it was meant as a way of replacing the antiquated TradFi cash system. However, as you are still early to the cryptocurrency scene it means that there are not that many places to spend your Bitcoin Cash.